As with many topics on this site, here we discuss the question”what is life” from a biblical perspective for your consideration. Hopefully this perspective will enlighten and empower you. Please enjoy and see what you think.
What is life? There are many answers to this question because it presents itself in so many ways, even in the Bible. But to simplify things, think of life as a product produced by just one maker. Therefore the maker of this product, given that they're the only entity with the production rights or “patent” for that product, can pull the product or provide it according to their terms.
This is exactly true about the “product” of life! God literally owns all the patents and production rights to life and He gives it out or takes it away as He wishes according to His will.
This creator and owner of life starts the life-giveaway process with the recipients being all of nature, then the animals, and then mankind when God gives breath to Adam as we see in Genesis 2:7:
Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Before the rules of the patent owner of life were broken, and thus the fall of mankind due to sin, we can only imagine what it was like for Adam experiencing life as God intended. No worries, no troubles, no pain, no sorrows. Just a special state of something we can't even imagine called life.
After the rule-breaking fiasco known as sin, the product was ruined, it was taken away. And ever since sin entered the world we've had to redefine and reduce the definition of “life” to medical terms. Today's Merriam-Webster dictionary has many definitions of life:
The quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body
A principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings
The sequence of physical and mental experiences that make up the existence of an individual
The period from birth to death
The above definitions represent just a small sample of the many noun forms of 'life'. Here's an adjective form:
Of or relating to animate being
This tense or format of “life” is related to a being which is animate or possess life. The verb form of 'animate' refers to giving spirit, support, life, vigor and or to move to action. All of these definitions represent the worldly modern day “post-sin” definitions of 'life' and they all fall short of the true biblical definition of life as we'll see later.
While the average non-believer will have you believe that “life” means to exist on earth, and obviously medically speaking you are said to be “alive” or dead, as in the definitions above, are these applications the true meaning of life or being “alive”? Let's examine these technical questions.
[EMPHASIS ADDED TO BRING OUT THE MEANING]
When we look at scripture to find the TRUE definition of 'life', it seems to be something we DON'T have, and that God DOES have and offers it to us BECAUSE He sees that we don't have it. Think about that!
The reduced worldly definitions of life however, present life as a product or state of being, that you already own and don't need anyone to give it to you. The Bible tells us that mankind fell away from true life and because of this fall there is a process that God has put in place to RESTORE that LIFE and give you back the true and original intended meaning of life!
So while the world chalks up the meaning of life as simply EXISTING in this broken world, REAL life awaits and it will blow your mind when you fully experience it. The great news is that the early stage of this unimaginable thing called life (the true and originally intended meaning of it) is already available to us through Jesus Christ and when we walk in the Spirit.
For this reason Jesus said in Mathew 16:25:
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it
John 14:16 tell us:
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 10:10:
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
In John 3:16 Jesus offer “eternal life”. And in John 6:35 He tells us “I am the bread of life”. The life theme is continuous and it's the main product that the owner of life seems to most want you and I to have.
As we see in Mathew 16:25, here Jesus tells us that whoever clings to their life outside of Him WILL lose their life meaning the “product” you were trying so hard to preserve will be removed! Conversely, we're told that he who chooses to let go of everything and perhaps risk it all or even give it all up because they know and trust God is in full control, that person WILL find their life. It can be quite reassuring and empowering to review and understand this!
Jesus spells it out in John 14:16, because He's telling us He IS life! He and only He owns the patent to true life. He has never outsourced, rented or sold out the rights or ownership of life to anyone else, which means everyone else offering “life” is (technically at least) a fraud!
This leads to the conclusion that the “life” we live here on earth is and always has been a vague shadow of the true life God intended for us. And this secondary form of “life” as we know it, includes just enough yearning to love and be loved, and just enough craving for goodness, peace and justice in it to make us search for the TRUE meaning of life. Think about that!
Amazingly, thousands of years after the fall of mankind, God sends His Son to tell us, “psst,,, I'm here, the owner of life, and I'm here to give the missing product back to you.” And the product that He wants to give you back,,,, IS LIFE! The question is now answered.
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